CBA to Acquire Crane Bank Rwanda Limited

Nairobi, June 15, 2017: Commercial Bank of Africa Limited (“CBA”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive Sale & Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) to acquire 100% of Crane Bank Rwanda Limited from dfcu Bank Limited (“dfcu”). dfcu is a registered financial institution in Uganda and Crane Bank Rwanda Limited is a registered commercial bank in Rwanda.

This transaction is subject to regulatory approval by National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), Bank of Uganda (BoU) and Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as well as other relevant capital markets regulatory authorities.

This acquisition signals CBA’s strategic intentions to expand its existing business operations in Rwanda and participate meaningfully in Rwanda’s economic growth agenda by providing the full spectrum of financial services to this market. It is guided by CBA’s long-term strategic vision that targets to increase its market share across the region through focusing on innovative products and solutions, that help customers to achieve their financial goals and ultimately grow their wealth.

CBA is the largest privately owned bank in East Africa and has been operating for over 54 years. CBA has a proud heritage and history as a refined financial services provider and through this acquisition is responding to the growing needs and desires of the bank’s customers within the region.

The financial base for CBA Group has strengthened considerably over the last five years to a total asset base of KES 227 billion (USD 2.2 billion), loans of KES 117 billion (USD 1.1 billion), deposits of KES 189 billion (USD 1.8 billion) and shareholders’ funds of KES 26 billion (USD 300 million) at 31st December 2016. With CBA’s unprecedented and market- leading mobile savings and loans (“MSL”) service, the bank serves over 27 million customers within East Africa in partnership with mobile money operators.

The Board of Directors of CBA will continue to evaluate and invest in opportunities that are aligned to the bank’s stated vision “to be a respected and significant financial services business partner in Africa”.